I wrote my first Flash piece in February 2018 and won the Australian Writers’ Centre Furious Fiction prize. This ignited my love affair with Flash, which has burned wild and bright ever since.

Dettra Rose 1/2/22 Dettra Rose 1/2/22

On a Rising Current

Longlisted (no shortlist) Reflex Fiction Flash Fiction Competition

Dettra Rose 12/4/21 Dettra Rose 12/4/21

Highway Revenge

Published in Twice Not Shy 100 Short Stories 2021

Dettra Rose 15/3/21 Dettra Rose 15/3/21

The Woman in the Pink Hoody

Longlisted (no shortlist) Reflex Fiction Flash Fiction Competition, August 2021Longlisted Furious Fiction Australian Writers’ Centre, March 2021

Dettra Rose 12/1/21 Dettra Rose 12/1/21

Turning One More Time

Published online at Emerge Literary Journal, January 2021

Dettra Rose 11/1/21 Dettra Rose 11/1/21

The Twenty-Five Year Silence

Shortlisted in Retreat West January Micro Fiction Competition, January 2021

Dettra Rose 16/2/20 Dettra Rose 16/2/20

In the Subway

Shortlisted in the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Furious Fiction competition, February 2020

Dettra Rose 7/10/19 Dettra Rose 7/10/19

When the Party’s Over

Runner up in Retreat West’s October 2019 Micro Fiction competition, October 2019

The Rumba of Second Chance tells a poignant story through small, well-chosen details. I include this in the category of ‘ambitious’ as it can be incredibly difficult to tell quieter stories; each choice of what to include and what to leave out can make or break the piece.

Comment by Judge Ingrid Jendrzejewski
What we liked: Who doesn’t like a happy ending story? This one certainly felt satisfying in that department and was well executed and convincing, with its strong point-of-view and poignant imagery.

Comment by Judge Jo Caddy
There were lovely details in this story of ageing and growing into understanding. Such a vivid picture painted of the grandmother in that first line. It left me wondering about what the glasses enabled the narrator to see and why the glasses were handed down the family line. This story is not as straightforward as it initially appears and left me with more questions than it answered.

Comment by Judge Amanda Saint
I loved your story, Dettra. It felt like a lifetime in a tiny story and the last line was a beauty.

Comment by Judge Emily Devane
Fantastic Flash. Full of sight, sound, taste, touch. Wonderful imagery and use of language.

Matt Kendrick, Writer.
The compact style grabbed us immediately and manages to tell so much in so few words (327 to be exact). Seven short-burst, stacked stanzas, with excellent use of repetition and a real understanding for the stages that we go through. It reads as it should, like a ‘to do list’ for a broken heart – hence why this format makes sense here. The ultimate ‘moving on’ manifesto!

Australian Writers’ Centre

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I wrote my first Flash piece in February 2018 and won the Australian Writers’ Centre Furious Fiction prize. This ignited my love affair with Flash, which has burned wild and bright ever since.

On a Rising Current

Highway Revenge

The Woman in the Pink Hoody

Turning One More Time

The Twenty-Five Year Silence

In the Subway

When the Party’s Over

The Rumba of Second Chance tells a poignant story through small, well-chosen details. I include this in the category of ‘ambitious’ as it can be incredibly difficult to tell quieter stories; each choice of what to include and what to leave out can make or break the piece.